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Shanarinara
The state of Shanarinara emerged just recently as an important power in the North as no one had much reason to pay attention to the small, inland nation. In the last six decades, however, the Shanari discovered modest deposits of jade and fairly large deposits of tin in their territory. Twenty years ago, they also found something no one even thought possible: a deposit of soulsteel. These discoveries brought a great increase in Shanarinara’s wealth, and even greater changes to their society. In their local Time of Tumult, the citizens of Shanarinara find themselves caught between greater forces than they imagine. HISTORY No awe-inspiring ruins hint at what Shanarinara might have been like in the High First Age. Indeed, until recently, the Shanari did not know there WAS a High First Age. Shanarinara's oldest structures date from the Shogunate period: a spa complex built to exploit a valley’s natural hot springs. By Shogunate standards, these were modest facilities where middle-class mortals and lower-rank Terrestrial Exalted came on vacation. The Fair Folk smashed the hotels and baths on their way toward the Blessed Isle, and the Empress dealt more damage as she scourged the invaders from beyond back toward Creation’s rim. Nevertheless, they seemed very fine to refugees of the plague and war. The hot springs, which made the valley several degrees warmer than the surrounding country, seemed even better. The damaged buildings became the start of the farming town of Inara. Other farming villages sprang up in the region soon after. The villages governed themselves through councils of elders and votes among the people. They stayed independent for centuries—sometimes fighting tiny wars against each other, sometimes trading their goods at Inara. About 400 years ago, however, an upsurge of attacks by icewalkers led to the villages confederating for defense. While Inara naturally dominated the confederation as the largest community, the other Shanari insisted on a democracy of communities, carrying the traditions of votes and councils to a higher level of organization. The confederacy of Shanarinara suffered two episodes of monarchy when warlords seized power, but neither lasted long. (The second warlord, the renegade Dynast Iselsi Krelen, died when Shanari assassins smothered him in his sleep.) Over time, the confederation became tighter until the Shanari thought of themselves as a single state. In RY 714, a Shanari prospector found a large deposit of tin ore in a range of low hills. Over the next few decades, other miners found additional ore deposits, including a deposit of blue jade. The Shanari had little experience with managing large, deep mines and so, they turned to the Guild. The Guild took its cut, as it always does, but cautious and stubborn negotiators made sure that much of the wealth stayed at home. Twenty years ago, the Guild also pressured the Shanari government to let it mine the newly discovered soulsteel—but then, the Shanari council received an unexpected embassy from a nation so distant no one had ever heard of it. Ambassadors from the far land of Gradafes said that they knew far more than the Guild about how to handle soulsteel and offered a higher price for the grim metal. Only years after the Shanari struck their deal did they learn that the ambassadors represented not the king of Gradafes but that country’s uncrowned mistress, the Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears. As Shanarinara grows in wealth, its leaders grow in ambition. They hope to expand their country considerably. Every direction they look, however, they see powerful and established rivals. Perhaps more importantly, their new wealth attracts large numbers of fortune hunters, to the extent that immigrants and their offspring now account for a significant fraction of the population. The Shanari now face choices they barely know how to define. SHANARI NATION Shanarinara occupies a region of low but rugged hills and broad valleys, about 200 miles east of the Black Crag Mountains and about midway between the White Sea and Inland Sea coasts. The country forms an irregular blob some 300 miles from east to west and 160 miles from north to south. The Fellish River flows through Shanarinara on its way from the Black Crag Mountains to the White Sea and the Haslanti town of White Ribs, but the shallow, rocky river is not navigable. The central government meets in Inara, located near the middle of the country but not on the Fellish River. Of late, the Shanari have built small, stone forts along the hills that form their borders. MAKING A LIVING The Shanari live at the northern extreme for growing the hardiest varieties of oats and rye. The land also supports herds of domestic musk ox. Many Shanari still live in farming and herding villages. These villages start as rectangular blocks of houses surrounding a courtyard, with thick outer walls of stone and sod. Villages grow by adding more blocks of houses with narrow passages between the courtyards. The Shanari used the courtyards as corrals for their musk ox herds to protect them from icewalker raids. Shanari cities still follow this basic plan: Although cobblestone streets divide the city into blocks, each block is a maze of courtyards and narrow passages. Urban homes keep their doors facing a courtyard. Only shops, factories and other places of business ever face the street. Nowadays, more than a dozen mines of tin (and lesser quantities of lead and silver) dot the hills of Shanarinara. The country’s single jade mine is not very large—Whitewall has six larger jade mines—but the royalties paid by the Guild for the jade alone is more money than older Shanari imagined could exist in the world. Unfortunately, none of the ore deposits turned out to be as large as the Shanari or the Guild thought. Two tin mines have already played out, the mining savants estimate the others will be exhausted within another 50 years, and the jade mine will likely play out sooner. No one can guess the extent of the soulsteel deposit, and the miners from Gradafes remove the metal slowly. Prospectors have already found hints of additional ores—some tin, also iron, copper and a little silver—beyond the nation’s borders. The icewalkers, however, still control these territories. GOVERNMENT Direct democracy endures as the standard form of government for every community of less than 5,000. The inhabitants of towns and villages gather together and vote on every important issue. Every year, immediately after Calibration, the inhabitants of every town and collection of villages also choose a small council of officials—the Selectmen—to carry out the results of these votes and to handle relations with the national government. Shanarinara’s growing cities continue this pattern. Large settlements are divided into wards of about 5,000 inhabitants who mostly live and work together. These residents vote on all major issues, just like the inhabitants of smaller towns. In addition, the Selectmen they elect have the additional duty of working with the councils of the other wards. The assembled ward councils of a city form that city’s central government. In both small towns and large cities, the town or ward council democratically elects a single Selectman to travel to Inara to sit on the national Senate. Every urban ward, town and group of villages in the nation has a delegate. Every month, the Senate elects a new Secretary—the closest the nation comes to a head of state. The large and often raucous Shanarinara Senate governs the entire nation. This form of government usually results in slow decisions and extensive compromise. When the interests of the various Senators all line up, though, they can act with unexpected speed and with full confidence that their constituents will back their actions. Indeed, national crises sometimes stampede the Senators into decisions they later regret. COMMUNICATION In the last 50 years, the national government has used its new wealth to build a heliograph network between every significant town. The ordinary heliograph towers are supplemented by stationary hot-air balloons (a technology inspired by seeing Haslanti air boats), which rise more than 1,000 feet on their sturdy rope tethers. Observers bearing spyglasses ascend in these balloons and can see far-off messages being relayed. They also spot many distant problems such as grass fires, large caravans and bandit gangs. As a result, towns and cities can share important information quite rapidly. The Shanari want to copy Haslanti air boats, but they haven’t worked out the rigging and propeller systems yet. (As inland people, they have a lot of catching up to do with sails.) So far, they manage only hot-air balloons. When the wind is right, however, local traders can send messages and fairly small cargoes in these balloons. The government pays for thaumaturges skilled in the Art of Weather Working or the Art of Elemental Summoning to make sure its balloon-borne couriers have a favorable wind. Even with the best weather control, these vessels are considerably slower and carry much less than Haslanti air boats. Nevertheless, Shanarinara now has weekly air travel between Inara and the other main cities, going both ways. These measures further unify Shanarinara and increase the nation’s power. Local Guild factors scribble excited messages to their leaders in Nexus about the commercial possibilities of long-range balloon transport of small, ultra-high-value commodities such as jewels, artifacts and hearthstones. THE NEW MODEL ARMY Each town and rural farming region once organized its own militia to fight off barbarians and the walking dead. The Senate soon found that these forces did not suffice to defend the country against bandits eager to take the new wealth for themselves. The Guild rented them mercenaries. A bright Senator realized, however, that it could be very foolish to rely exclusively on the Guild for defense. As a result, the Senate began hiring its own mercenaries—not to fight, but to train the Shanari. Today, a modest standing army trained in Scavenger Lands tactics and organization—the New Model Army—supplements the militias. Shanarinara still cannot conquer any of its neighbors, but it can now defend itself from the icewalkers. RELIGION AND THE SUPERNATURAL Shanarinara has never felt much influence from the Realm, but its people worship the Immaculate Dragons nonetheless—a leftover bit of Shogunate culture. Their faith has nothing to do with the Dragon-Blooded, and they deny the immanent divinity of the Scarlet Dynasty and the Empress. Instead, they revere the Dragons as Creation’s supreme elemental powers. Missionaries from the Immaculate Order periodically tried to push the Shanari into true Immaculate faith, but the Shanari always slid back to their folk religion. As farmers, naturally they revere Sextes Jylis, the Dragon of Wood, above the rest, but the new importance of mining leads to increasing worship of Pasiap as well. Priests of the Dragons have the job of dealing with local small gods and elementals (and are well paid for it). The Shanari have little experience with the Exalted. Rarely, a Dynast or an outcaste adventurer passed through and usually made a bad impression. On the rare occasions when a Shanari drew the Second Breath as a Terrestrial, she was strongly encouraged to seek her destiny elsewhere. The few encounters between the Shanari and the Lunar Exalted also involved icewalkers, so the Shanari have an even worse view of Luna’s Chosen. Their most visible example of the new Solar Exalted is the Bull of the North, who frightens them terribly. A fellow called the Prince of Shadows passed through briefly on business for the Lover, however, and he seemed quite charming. Shanarinara has few native God-Blooded and no other native Essence channelers. The nation does hire many foreign thaumaturges, who perform a wide variety of functions. The most important functions involve summoning elementals to assist in mining, building, weather control and other forms of civil engineering. The Senate recently established a National College of Thaumaturgy and offers excellent salaries to potential teachers. IMMIGRANT NATION Historically, Shanarinara was a nation with a relatively low and highly self-sufficient population. That has drastically changed within the last several decades. The nation found itself with more money and more work to do than people to do it. First, the Shanarinara Senate began hiring engineers and planners from Nexus and other distant nations. The Senate initially sought out experts from distant lands to avoid hiring anyone who might serve potential rivals or competitors, such as the Haslanti League. These experts designed factories with simple assembly lines and significantly improved agricultural production through basic weather control, increased labor and better plows, harrows and other devices that Scavenger Lands farmers had used for centuries. Within 15 years, these efforts began to pay off, and Shanarinara became far more prosperous than it had been previously. For such an isolated little country, word spread with amazing speed that Shanarinara would pay for workers. First a trickle of poor people came, seeking their fortunes. The trickle grew into a stream, a river… The Guild offered to sell slaves but found its caravans under attack by convoys of would-be workers anxious not to be undercut. Thirty years ago, a canny Guild factor gave up and put herself at the head of the parade. Every year, poor people in Nexus, Port Calin, Mishaka and other teeming cities of the Scavenger Lands pay the Guild their life’s savings to join a caravan bound for Shanarinara, the Land of Opportunity and Treasure Chest of the North! One in 10 Shanari came to the country within the last 30 years or are descended from people who did. What’s more, these immigrants swell the nation’s previously small urban population. Sixty years ago, only one in 20 Shanari lived in towns or cities. Today, that number has risen to one in seven. Inara, the nation’s largest metropolis, has a population of 250,000 and growing. The government also finds the manpower to embark on large public works, such as trading roads meant to connect Inara to Fella, Gethamane and White Ribs—none completed yet. A fraction of these immigrants are highly skilled and well paid experts such as thaumaturges, doctors, artisans and engineers. These experts have become an exotic upper class. They remain distinct from Shanarinara’s native upper class of landowners, merchants, priests and local artisans. Many of these wealthy new residents intend to stay only a decade or so before they return to their homelands. If they intend to stay, they often make an effort to fit in. They do not much threaten the existing social order. The position of the poorer immigrants is far less secure. Most immigrants are semi-skilled laborers who toil in the workshops and factories of the growing cities or in the mines. Most of them come from the Scavenger Lands and speak Riverspeak, not Skytongue. They live in their own urban neighborhoods. Some members of the local lower class resent the jobs that these laborers supposedly take away from them. Crime has risen since the old days, too. The most common source of local dissatisfaction, though, is simply that the immigrants are not part of Shanari culture. Everything from their food to their faiths is radically different. Many older Shanari fear their country will lose its native culture under the influx of foreigners and their alien cultures. These conservative residents view the spread of foreign restaurants and foreign entertainment with a mixture of alarm and disgust. INARA The capital of Shanarinara used to be a small and quiet city with a population of only 50,000. People still enjoyed the hot springs. The city was also a center for the manufacture of distinctive Shanarinaran pottery. Today, Inara is the most cosmopolitan city in a nation that is profoundly not used to being cosmopolitan. Almost a fifth of Inara’s population is foreign born—this, in the capital itself! Here, the disruptions to Shanarinaran life show themselves at their most extreme. The Guild leases a full district of the city covering more than a square mile in area. Inara is the primary point of trade between Shanarinara and the Guild, as well as the center for the influx and adoption of foreign luxuries by the local populace. Wealthy Shanarinarans living in Inara now regularly own silks and clocks from the Realm, exotic Haltan woodwork and occasionally even glasswork imported from the South. To many older or rural residents of Shanarinara, Inara has become a symbol of the foreign corruption that has invaded this land. Young working-class Shanari who come to Inara often resent the many foreign workers who live here. They show their resentment through petty vandalism and brawls. Hundreds of immigrants are beaten each year. Now and then, angry young men burn down a shop owned by successful immigrants. Yet, only native Shanari can vote. There have been several proposals to expand voting rights to everyone born in Shanarinara, but the conservative inhabitants of the nation’s small farming towns strongly oppose these measures. This gives immigrants grounds for resentment in return. THE GRADAFES WARD Most wards and immigrant ghettos act like invisible barriers. The Nexus folk just don’t mix with the Calinti much, and none of the Scavenger Lands immigrants have much good to say about the Haslanti—some of them live in tents. One small neighborhood, however, surrounds itself with high brick walls. Here dwell a few thousand rather pale people from Gradafes… and no one else. The Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears sent them to work in the soulsteel mine. The miners work in shifts, two weeks on and six weeks off. They spend their off period in Inara. First, only men came. As the years passed, though, the miners sent for their wives and children. The largest building in the Gradafes Ward is a temple of the dead, following that country’s version of the ancestor cult. The second-largest building is the Gradafes embassy. Neither one looks very fancy, or obviously ominous, but few Shanari would want to step into either of them. As part of her embassy, the Lover sent a few dozen Ghost-Blooded exorcists. These exorcists perform certain special functions in mining the soulsteel. They also help keep Shanarinara free from the restless dead. The country’s border lies more than 100 miles from Marama’s Fell, but that isn’t enough to prevent all incursions. Older Shanari abhor the idea of dealing with the dead and their allies. The inhabitants on the country’s southwestern margin, however, fear the restless dead of the Fell. Although many of these farmers and herders feel uncomfortable with the Gradafesese, they also feel grateful for the wardings that keep their towns free from spectral invasions. Debate about the risks and desirability of dealing with Gradafes and its mysterious mistress forms a subject of discussions and arguments in the homes, taverns and Senate of Shanarinara. FOREIGN RELATIONS AND THE FUTURE Shanarinara has tasted wealth and power for the first time, and its inhabitants wish to expand and stabilize their gains. Unfortunately, the its is relatively small and not well equipped for war. Knowing this, the Senate seeks allies. Gethamane and Fella seem like the nearest and safest allies, but also the least useful. Whitewall expresses interest in increasing trade, though, while seeming distant enough not to become a threat. The Haslanti League also makes overtures, but the Shanari suspect the aggressive Haslanti see their rich little country as a plum to pluck. The Shanari have no desire to ally with the Realm but their new wealth has led to the first attention they have ever received from the Scarlet Empire in the form of Dynastic ambassadors with an Imperial legion demanding tribute. The Shanari paid though suspect that only their location on the far side of Marama’s Fell prevented the country from becoming a satrapy. The Shanari accurately perceive Cherak, Amber River and Serrat as puppets of the Realm. The rise of the Bull of the North presents Shanarinara with a neighbor they fear at least as much as the Realm. The Bull’s nascent empire is still hundreds of miles from Shanarinara’s border… but that didn’t help the Linowan, now did it? Ranches on the country’s eastern margin have already suffered raids from icewalkers loyal to the Bull. Many in this nation fear that the Bull will soon set his sights on Shanarinara’s rough but fertile lands. Some Shanari politicians seriously debate whether the country should preemptively sue for peace and offer tribute to the Bull, lest he conquer them outright. Indeed, Shanarinara’s closest ally is a country fewer than a dozen Shanari have ever visited: Gradafes. The Lover’s home lies many thousands of miles away, and so, the Shanari imagine it could not possibly become a threat. The Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears encourages this notion. The Shanari would like to expand their country. The icewalkers are their chief obstacle. A number of icewalker tribes regularly pass by Shanarinara’s fringes, and they massacre homesteads established outside the country’s borders. Only sustained warfare could end this threat. If Shanarinara could do this, they would find other powerful coun- tries contesting their control of the new territories: the Haslanti League to the north, Amber River to the southeast, possibly Whitewall to the west, certainly the Bull of the North to the east. The southwest lies open already, but few Shanari want to move closer to Marama’s Fell. The ambassadors from Gradafes hint, however, that the Lover might be able to show them ways to deal with this problem. Maybe even with the Bull of the North… Many Senators now seriously ponder deepening their ties with the Deathlord, even though they now have some idea what a Deathlord is. They fear nearby threats more than they fear the far-removed Deathlord who has never set foot in their country (to their knowledge). The Shanari’s hunger n country s red et t ns ntry ce ra’s han d: thous d alkers regura’s ablished y for new lands to settle and exploit makes the Lover’s offers even more tempting. The Lover is sufficiently patient to accept refusal in the short term, but several of her agents already operate in Shanarinara, working to convince the populace to accept her offer. The New Model Army consists of 12 dragons (so far) of about 500 men each which can divide into wings, talons and so on, following the usual pattern derived from Shogunate and Realm legions. Shanarinara uses modern names for officers, though: sergeants leading fangs, lieutenants commanding scales and captains leading talons. Majors command wings and colonels command whole dragons. The New Model Army has a single general, Thara Talhasina. NEW MODEL ARMY FOURTH DRAGON Description: Soldiers of the Fourth Dragon ride to battle but dismount to fight. The New Model Army still experiments with what mounts to use, horses or reindeer, so the Fourth has two talons of each. New Model Army soldiers train equally with spears, swords and bows. The Shanari have long experience of the need to shoot marauding icewalkers. Commanding Officer: Colonel Azil Izane Armor Color: Green and silver Motto: “Live and Die Free!” General Makeup: 500 medium infantry armed with spears, straight swords and long bows with broadhead arrows; they wear lamellar armor and slotted helms. Formation: Shanarinara military units fight in a basic phalanx formation, with swordsmen attacking enemies who get past the guarding spearmen. Before armies close, everyone shoots arrows. In large battles, auxiliary units of local militia back them up.